The Central Bureau of Investigation has re-arrested a Central Goods and Services Tax superintendent and an alleged intermediary in a Rs 40 lakh bribery case after the Bombay high court set aside a special court order that had declared their arrests illegal and granted them bail. The agency is also searching for IRS officer Vinay Kumar Kantheti, an additional commissioner of CGST, who it says is currently untraceable.
The arrests took place on Wednesday after the high court allowed the CBI’s revision petition and remanded the accused to two days of CBI custody for custodial interrogation. The agency first arrested Kantheti, superintendent Rakesh Kumar Sinha and agent Narinder Rajput on August 27 in connection with the alleged demand for a bribe from a representative of a stone-quarrying firm.
The special CBI court had subsequently released the three accused on bail, holding that their arrests were illegal because they had not been informed of the grounds for arrest. The CBI challenged that order before the Bombay high court.
According to the CBI, the high court examined the case record and found that the grounds of arrest had been communicated to the accused. The agency also said that the families and advocates of the accused had been informed. Following the high court’s order, CBI officers took Sinha and Rajput into custody again.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the CBI said, “Pursuant to the High Court order, Rakesh Kumar Sinha and Narinder Rajput have been taken into CBI custody for custodial interrogation. Efforts are being made to trace and apprehend Vinay Kumar Kantheti, Additional Commissioner, CGST, in accordance with law.”
The case relates to an alleged demand for money to settle a GST and royalty matter involving the stone-quarrying firm. The CBI said its verification of a complaint from the firm’s representative confirmed the alleged involvement of Sinha and Kantheti in demanding a bribe. The officials had allegedly initially sought Rs 1.5 crore, with the amount later reduced to Rs 40 lakh after negotiations, according to the agency’s account.
The CBI has alleged that Rajput accepted the Rs 40 lakh bribe on behalf of the two officers. The agency’s renewed custody of Sinha and Rajput will allow investigators to question them for two days under the high court’s order. The CBI is separately attempting to locate Kantheti at his residence and office as the investigation continues.
